Squaw Bread

Squaw Bread
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

When I was a child we took at least one trip a year up to the mountains, to Bishop, California. Before we returned home we would go to a local bakery there and load up on  their specialty, Squaw bread, an absolutely delicious whole grain bread sweetened with raisins and molasses. Then, when I moved to Hawaii , there was a French baker Jacques, who made a similar bread for the restaurant  I worked at . It's been some years since I've had either bread but when I saw a recipe for Squaw bread on line I thought I'd give it a tryI actually found 3 different recipes, all quite different , I knew the bread I grew up with and loved  contained wheat and rye flours and was sweetened with ground raisins and molasses so I took 3 different recipes and combined them. The bread came out very close to what I remembered , I think  the orginal also contained some corn, so I'm going to add some on the next try .
I usually have a 1 hour rule ( no cutting bread until it's cooled for at least an hour but this loaf didn't even sit for 15 minutes before I had to try a piece, ,  it was half gone in minutes.

Chicken tsukune

Chicken tsukune
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

I had purchased some ground chicken to make the chicken onigri from Everyday Harumi but decided to try the recipe for these little meat patties instead.
They would make great little sliders or appetizers for a party.

I adjusted the recipe for the ingredients I had on hand .
1 lb ground chicken
2 stalks celery finely diced
1 small round onion finely diced
1 large egg
4 T unbleached all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped cilantro
Combine all ingredients and shape into small patties 2' across
set aside on parchment lined baking sheet and chill while making Teriyaki sauce.
1/2 c mirin
1/2 c soy sauce ( I use kikoman low sodium)
4 T lt brown sugar
1 t ginger juice ( grate ginger , squeeze juice out of the pulp, discard pulp)
combine all ingredients in small sauce pan and bring to boil over med high heat , reduce heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 min until sauce is reduced and syrupy
Cut 2 green onions on a sharp diagonal and set aside.
heat a large non stick fry pan over med high heat and when hot add enough oil to glaze the bottom of the pan put patties in the pan without crowding , fry patties until bottom is golden then turn over and cover fro 2 minutes remove cover and continue cooking until patties are browned and cooked through.
Place teriyaki sauce in shallow bowl and add patties turning to coat , thread on skewers and garnish with green onions.

Super good banana bread

Super good banana bread
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

1/2 c unsalted butter softened
1 c sugar ( I like to use lt brown or 1/2 lt brown and 1/2 white)
2 eggs
1 c mashed bananas
2 c flour sifted
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 c buttermilk or sour milk
optional
1/2 c chopped walnuts or almonds or mini chocolate chips
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffly
Beat in eggs one at a time
Add bananas and mix well.
In another bowl sift flour,salt soda and baking powder stir in nuts or chips
Next, alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to banana mixture beginning and ending with flour and mixing well after each addition. . Pour into a greased and floured 9x5" loaf pan Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 60 -75 minutes, allow to cool in pan on rack 5 minutes then remove from pan and continue cooling on rack
I highly recommend doubling the recipe because it's so good fresh out of the oven but also delicious the next day

Sourdough Annadamna

Sourdough Annadamna
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

I'm trying to get a little variety into my baking but I love the sourdough so I was happy when I found this recipe for a sourdough Annadamna bread.

blog name change

So if you know me then you know I used to be a cratfter plagued by ADD with too many projects and not enough time to complete them . A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor on my pancreas and had a major surgery to remove it along with numerous other parts of my digestive system. During my recovery I couldn't sit at the sewing machine and sew and I couldn't eat much either.I ended up passing my time watching food network and pbs and obsessing over food . One of the after effects of the Whipple procedure( the name of the surgery)is that with a compromised pancreas some people can develop diabetes. I was instructed to watch my sugar intake closely. Around the same time my daughter had surgery for ovarian cancer and also developed an allergy to food coloring. On the advice of my nutritionist I purged all products containing high fructose corn syrup from my pantry . At the same time, all artificially colored products also got the boot . I've always been a pretty healthy eater , so it wasn't too big of a loss but I was amazed at how HFCS made it's way into so many processed foods. I had to find substitutes for a few favorite condiments ( Heinz ketchup and Hersey syrup )and I started making many other products like baked goods, salad dressings, and marinades from scratch. It's not something I could do if I was working full time, it takes time and planning, but it's worth it.

on the menu

Many Mushroom Buns
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

Many Mushroom buns

chop chop chop

The cooking continues

chop chop chop
Originally uploaded by Saltygal.

Saltygal shop update

Well we are days away from "early summer" when I predicted Saltygal would reopen on the web. I don't think I will reopen anytime soon. I am almost fully recovered from my surgery and able to stand and sew, but right now, I just have no interest, and that's not the way to run a business. Lately what's interested me, is food and the garden.
I've always been an avid gardener, but last summer I injured my foot, then knee and it kept me out of the garden almost all season. That was a good news bad news situation . Good, because most of the garden was established enough to get by in spite of my neglect. The bad news was that some didn't survive and left gaping holes where weeds took over. There is plenty of work for me in the garden this season. What a joy to return to the earth and compost , birds and butterflies. I hope to have my garden certified as a wildlife habitat this year .
The other interest which has been taking up much of my time lately is food. Before my surgery I had read about some possible side effects following a Whipple procedure. The most frightening to me was a loss of taste and appetite. I spent the weeks before my surgery treating myself to a long list of favorite foods . For the first month of my recovery, while taking the heavy painkillers I couldn't concentrate enough to read much so I watched TV, mainly the food network and PBS cooking shows. What torture! Eating wasn't easy in the beginning , well eating was OK digesting was a different story. I had to eat small meals to keep the pressure off all the internal stitches , but I has lost my sense of taste and would eat and get full but have no satisfaction. I kept making progressively spicier foods trying to get the flavor, to no avail. I thought this was a side effect of my particular surgery but apparently it happens to many people after any type of surgery under general anesthesia. Now my taste buds are starting to awaken , but Naomi who is only 3 weeks post op is going through the same thing. Spicy spicy spicy , that's all I'm cooking and eating these days.
In our household we celebrate birthdays with food, I make the dinner and cake of choice for the birthday boy or girl.This year I was sick for Naomi's birthday. I promised her I'd make it up as soon as I was able to. This coming Tuesday she's having her friends and coworkers over for a dinner of Dim Sum.It's sort of a re birtday after her surgery. I have been cooking since Saturday. I have enjoyed it so much. Today is a big day, I'll be making potstickers and mushroom bo (buns) I am made the dough and fillings yesterday, so today it's an assembly line of rolling and filling and tucking and pleating . I'm trying to remember to take pictures , so I can post more pictures. I'm pretty sure that unless the sewing bug bites me again this blog will be more about food and less about crafts .

Priority Shift

I know I've been quite and gone for a while. I promised updates but I wasn't sure if and when I would be able to return to work and reopen my shop. I was waiting until I was sure of a date. My surgery went well. I was in the hospital for a little over a week and was able to come home under the care of a visiting nurse.
I had a minor setback two weeks after my discharge and had to be re hospitalized for 4 days due to an infection. Once that was behind me I decided to take it a little slower and follow doctors orders to a T. I had fallen into a cycle of "I feel great !" then working on a project or playing with Bella, then spending the following 24 hours with a heating pad and pain pills.
I wanted to get to my 6 week post op when I would receive my final test results and pathology reports . I had to have another ct scan ( my 4th) and something called an otreo scan where you are injected with a radioactive isotope and then scanned. My tumor was a neuroendocrine tumor the oncologist said the otreo scan would show if any cells from the tumor had traveled elsewhere.
The day before my post op visit I took my daughter for an ultrasound. She had been losing weight , yet her abdomen was growing larger, almost as if she was pregnant. The ultra sound revealed a large cyst. So the following day after my visit with the oncologist , she had a visit with a surgeon to see about having it removed.
Last Thursday she had "Edgar" ( as she and her surgeon named it) and a smaller "Gertrude" removed . The surgeon told us that "Edgar had been growing inside her for 10 years.
Yesterday was her first full day at home and now we'll wait for her biopsy reports.
So much upheaval in our lives. My tumor was found by accident after a serious intestinal infection last November revealed a "hazy " area on my pancreas. My daughter has had many vague, mild symptoms. She had been to the doctor many times and had numerous exams and tests, none revealed anything, until the ultrasound.
Needless to say, we both have a new lease on life. My tumor was found before it could do serious damage to other organs and while I miss( most of) my pancreas I have enough left over to see me through. Now that my daughter's tumor is gone she already feels better without the pressure of Edgar pressing on her organs.
She will be ready to go back to school in the fall, until then we both plan to enjoy the summer , go places and do things we didn't have the health or time for before. My husband has been amazing through all of this and I'd like to spend some time taking care of him. I may start Saltygal back up again, I may not , I think I need some long walks on the beach to think about it .

taking a break

I closed my Etsy and Artfire shops this week, hopefully just for a month or two.
I'm having some health issues and have had to close shop several times since November.
I'd sewn like a demon in October and November to participate in a couple of craft shows and have a nice full shop for the holidays.That didn't work out I missed the show and had the shop closed most of December.
When I was feeling better in February I decided to try out Artfire and put some things in there. Just a week after that I got sick again and finally found out the problem. I'm going to have some surgery next week and will need a month or two to recover so I won't be around much. I miss it already . I have so much beautiful new fabric and bunch of new designs, but they will have to wait. I'll keep you posted, hopefully by summer both the economy and I will be in better shape.

Merry Christmas

Getting in the mood for Christmas

When I first moved here and the kids were young,I went all our for Christmas. I decorated the door and window frames with elaborate garlands and wreaths I made myself,filled the window boxes with more evergreens and had spectacular trees filled with ornaments collected from all over the world. It was a lot of work ,weeks worth and my family appreciated it .
This year with Jon away and the cost of everything sky high we decided on a low key Christmas, no tree , no big gifts. It's been a relief not to have to worry on how to get it all done. I'm making small gifts for the stockings, but that's it. I couldn't (wouldn't) do this if the kids were still kids , but they are grown now, and I just don't feel the need for a tree and gifts.
We aren't forgetting Christmas, just keeping the focus on the day not the trappings.
This morning was dreary and as I returned from my walk with Bella ,my house looked so forlorn with it's empty window boxes and bare front door. I grabbed my clippers and a big paper bag and took a walk around my yard collecting evergreens to dress them up. A quick walk up the block to the county's water station netted me some cedar, pine and pine cones. They could use some more color and I'll look for more on my next hike but I'm pretty happy with them and even happier with the price tag. I did pick up a swag at Trader Joe's for the door. I didn't want to go up in the attic to find trim, so I took some ribbon from my sewing box and some gnomes,birds and mushrooms from the craft box and had fun with it .

Get yourself on Etsy's front Page in 3 easy steps

I made this chart several weeks ago after watching the same items being featured over and over on the front page of Etsy. Is it scientific ? No. However between the time I first made the chart and now, I've noticed that most of the treasuries I've seen fall within my table of possibilities .
I am having a glitch with Google or Blogger or both so I am unable to post it here. I've provide a link to the google doc so you can even print it out as a handy guide.
You'll either find it amusing ,infuriating or helpful.
If you are one of those who is featured on the front page regularly, good for you! I have nothing against you or what you make, so please don't take it personal. The same goes for those of you that make things which don't fall into one of my categories, these are just my observations about what items and types of treasuries seem to be picked for front pages.
To make your own front page worthy treasury
1 Pick one from Column's A& B Theme and color scheme
2 Pick 2 from each of the remaining categories
3 Use your color theme and items as search words to find your items,artfully arrange,post and wait to be picked

The Chart

Dell Mini

I've had an increase in the number of mini cases I've made lately . After the Macbooks, the Dell "Mini" and Asus EEEPC are my most requested sleeves. One of my customers posted a video about his sleeve.

Fall Back

After a lazy summer of gardening and collecting , I'm getting back into sewing and creating new products. Sales have definitely slowed for me on Etsy, where I used to get new customers without even trying . When I first started making my laptop sleeves, there was only one other person making them and theirs was a true bag, one with a zipper and handles. Gradually more sellers started producing bags and sleeves. Some truly gifted crafters, like Alice of Flickabags and workingclass hero, have essentially closed shop and gone elsewhere. Now there are dozens of people making sleeves and laptop bags. Since etsy allows cottage industries, I can post a bag in the morning and find it 20 pages back by noon . Not much chance of being seen by the casual browser.
The one thing that really bothers me is that if you do a search for laptop sleeve you may have to sift through a couple hundred listings to find one . Many sellers migrated over from ebay and use ridiculous titles like
Custom laptop notebook briefcase backpack messenger diaper tote bag purse sleeve
in order to drive traffic to their pages. Personally,I wouldn't buy from someone with an ebay type title ( unless I was on ebay), but that's just me. I can't say that I blame them as etsy's search feature is virtually useless . I just think it looks tacky .
I've thought of closing shop there but I 'm too stubborn to give up and leave what little new business I have to these interlopers.
So I have started selling on Icraft a Canadian site that screens it sellers for quality and has truly handcrafted items for sale. I haven't sold anything so far but I really like the look and feel of the site and I'm sure I will soon.
I'll also be participating in a few craft shows leading up to Christmas. I've only booked a few close to the holidays because I need to build up some stock. I'll post links soon.

Meme.... My favorite contemporary fabric

My favorite new(to me) blog is True Up . It's all fabric all the time! The current meme is to post your favorite contemporary fabric.
After much consideration, I've settled on Kiku Stencil by Makower. I love everything about it. It's simple yet complex , old fashioned, yet modern.
Kiku is Japanese for Chrysanthemum, which happened to be my mothers favorite flower. She grew at least 10 different varieties, from simple buttons to elegant spiders, all as a part of a very large Japanese style garden she and my father built from the ground up. So I've always loved Japanese prints, But this one is from England.
It features many different motifs of the flower, some traditional Japanese designs mixed with other, more stylized western interpretations . It came in two colorways but this is my favorite, mostly tan and black with just enough red to give the eye a rest and focus. It was popular with my customers and I kept buying and buying until suddenly there wasn't a yard to be found . I am left with a few remnants That one day will be sewn into something special and everlasting.

Upcycle tshirt bag challenge

Woof Nanny's latest challenge was to up cycle a t-shirt into a bag . My son recently let go of some of this favorite t' s so I decided to use one of them. I decided to make a messenger bag since it was a man's t shirt and would be a good choice for the print. I backed it with some stabilizer but it was still too soft to keep its shape so I used some black twill for the body of the bag. I used the front screen print for the flap adding a frame of studs around Q.E. I used the back of the t for the back pocket with a skull patch covering some minor holes. A black and white check was perfect for the lining. I used one of the sleeves to make an inner pocket It's finished off with an adjustable strap

Purse project challenge

This is my submission for Woof Nanny's current bag challenge, which is to remake a bag. I did more of a rehab than a remake. I bought this vintage straw bag at an estate sale. It had been packed away for years and had no major issues other than a strong musty odor. After giving it a good cleaning I tried airing it outside in the sun for a few days. It worked a bit but soon the scent would come back . It had a vinyl lining which was still in good shape ,just a little stained and not very attractive. I thought maybe the back of the lining was moldy and responsible for the smell so I took it out it and found a cardboard backing which fortunately wasn't moldy but was what was holding the odor. It was held in place by rattan staves and I worried that if I tried to take them out I might compromise the frame. After doing some research I learned that if you can't replace the lining you can seal it, thereby holding the odor in. I used a clear acrylic sealer and it sure enough the odor is gone. I took the previous lining apart and used it as a pattern for a new lining adding a zipper pocket complete with a vintage metal zipper just like the original had.
I'd like to Thank Barb for hosting this challenge.For some reason participants have been dwindling and she's thinking of shutting it down. I hope if you've never tried a challenge before you'll give it a try , it's no pressure, loads of fun and sometimes it's a great to be given an "assignment". Without the Purse ProjectI don't know what I'd write about in my blog!

reassembeling the past

Last month I participated in Barb's (Woof Nanny) purse project challenge which was to make a bag from vintage linens (curtains, dresser scarf, tablecloth, etc). I thought it would be easy but I just couldn't seem to think of the right bag for the linens I'd designated for cutting. Then recently I came across a towel that looked like ones we had when I was growing up. A lovely teal blue and avocado green brocade. I forked over $2.00 for it and brought it home washed it and then used it as a lap blanket for a while. I wasn't going to cut into this piece of my past until I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted. It wasn't really a piece of my past but it was close enough.

When I first left home , I took very little with me. My( first) husband and I were building our boat. We lived in my mother in law's pool house for a couple of months until we were able to get the interior roughed in and move aboard. During this time my parents moved from their home in Southern California to North Carolina. There were lots of things that wouldn't be making the trip , linens, china , knicknacks. Since I lived on a 32' boat, I couldn't take anything, there just wasn't room. At the time I was working as a Buyer, a job where dressing trendy was required. Every extra inch of storage was filled . We had a rule, bring something new home, take something old out. Eventually the boat was finished, I quit my job and we spent more days at sea then in port ,so there was even less room for frivolous objects.

We finally settled in Hawaii and started building our home. I was building a new life and collecting things from the past didn't really matter to me. Living on an island I can tell you , there are no treasures tempting you at garage sales, no antiques waiting to be found. Everything is used until it disintegrates, or breaks beyond repair. I collected sea shells, sea glass and seeds. It wasn't until years later, after my divorce , after my parents had passed, that I wanted to surround myself with the familiar objects of my childhood and happier times. I had inherited some art , some jewelry but it was the every day hand me down objects I longed for.

Now I live in a place where thrift shops and white elephant sales are commonplace . I am slowly reassembling my past, piece by piece with kitchen wear, linens and fashion accessories of days gone by . They may only be replicas, but the memories they evoke are genuine.

International Shipping Woes

The recent changes in international shipping rates have really put a crimp in overseas sales of my laptop sleeves and bags. To ship an average sized sleeve to the UK used to cost $10.50Now to ship the same sleeve cost $20.00 which is about half the price of a sleeve.
When a return customer ordered one for a gift, I worried about losing a sale. She asked if their was any way I could send it cheaper and I told her I would research it . Everything else was just as much if not more.
I decided to see if there was anyway I could fit it in a flat rate envelope. I squished it down as much as I could and managed to get it inside but just barely. Then I had an idea. What if I put it in a plastic bag and sucked the air out ? I used a normal zip lock bag and my vacuum and it did the trick.
Last week I had a custom order from Germany , this sleeve was for a mammoth laptop . The shipping would have been $25 .00 I asked if she minded getting it tightly packed, she would need to press it herself and she agreed it was worth the savings.
Try as I might I could barely get it folded to put in the gallon sized zip lock I've used for 13" and 15" macs which are slimmer than most . Finally I folded it in thirds and then in half and got it in the bag. It took a couple tries but I was finally able to get it compressed down to fit in the envelope and to be able to close it without tape ( a postal requirement.)